Strength
by Pop-goes-the-Prussia
Summary: When a disturbed Arthur is struck by the Blitz, Ludwig tries to soothe the pain. Slight Fluff?  PHAIL SUMMARY PLEEEASE READ    T just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, readers! This is my first fanfic EVER! Yays! ^^ This was fueled by Easter candy, and grain pie. (Dont know what that is? LOOK IT UP! XD) Hope the characters arent too OOC here, but, whatever, here we go!**

***Yanks Gilbert in front of the screen ***

**Pop: GIIILBERT, DO THE DISCLAIMER PLEEEASE!**

**Gil: Why? Im too awesome for Disclaimer thingies I dont have anything to do with the story! **

**Pop: Holds out beer =_= Hm? How bout that disclaimer, now?  
>Gil: OOOOK! Pop-Goes-the-Prussia, does not own Hetalia, if she did, I wouldn't be here. Wouldn't that suck for you<strong>

**Warnings: Some Gore n stuff in later chapters, Historical Inaccuracy, Horrible grammar, VEEERY slight yaoi, if you even want to call it that its more like brotherly huggish stuff XD**

**Please, Enjoy! :P**

**Setting: Conference room: Paris, France September 7, 1940.**

September 7, 1940, was not a good day for Arthur Kirkland. Though the small Englishman wouldn't normally be pegged as your happy-go-lucky guy, the dark, depressing aura that surrounding him just didn't suit him. Blank, once gleaming, emerald eyes were rooted to a single spot on the long mahogany table, which was surrounded by arguing people. His eyes hadnt left the spot since the meeting started. Arthur was staring at the place once occupied by Alfred. F. Jones.(All the countries had set aside a place or him at each meeting) This would be the fourth time that he had spent September 7th alone, without the warm, beaming smile, and ever-present laughter of a certain American, only to find himself missing the extravagant, pompous, and hero-centric ideas of the handsome, young blonde.

**Flashback to Four Years Ago**

_Setting: A hospital September 7 1936, the height of Great Depression_

_"Al? Alfred?" Arthur called out, tears streaming down his face, Alfreds cold hand in his. _If Al sees me like this..._ Getting worried, he calls out, "Alfred! Speak to me!" The hospital room was filled with the stale air of silence, only to be broken by Alfreds ragged breathing. After some attempts at bringing words to the surface, Arthur finally got an answer. "Ar...tie?" Though the reply was almost nonexistent, Arthur understood it perfectly. "Yes, lad, Im here" When he said that, a cold, clammy hand gripped his own. His whispers almost seemed lost on the cold body of the man before him, already resembling the corpse it will inevitably become. "Would you...say...", his voice hitched as he broke into a fit of coughing. All Arthur could do was rub his knobby back, hoping to take some of the pain away _

_ It was amazing how much pain, and suffering changes a person Artie was devastated to see a broken Alfred when this whole economy ordeal began. He just collapsed, literally, in a Conference, and was never seen out of a hospital bed again. _

_Forming his final words, Alfred finished his sentence "Would you say... That I... became a hero?" With those final words, Death took Alfred Frederick Jones mind, and soul, leaving a hurt, now broken Arthur to mourn the loss of his beloved brother._

**Present Day**

"Would you say... he became... a hero?" Arthur repeated the words without realizing, his eyes still glued to the spot. A shocked group of arguing people turned to face the speaker. Those had been the first words Arthur had spoken in the meeting. "Mon cher... We all know he was a hero..." Francis Bonnefoy, a rival, friend, brother, and maybe something more, all rolled up into the package of a tall handsome French man, laid a comforting had on the others thigh, an action that would have normally been cursed at and swatted away, was just accepted and left alone. Not caring about his surroundings, and whose presence he was in, Arthur bowed his head, and beneath sandy fringe of hair, let out a silent wave of tears, spilling onto the Frenchmans hand, and the olive green material of his uniform.

While the others were silently getting over their shock, Feliciano Vargas, a sweet, Italian man broke the silence. Cocking his head to the side he said, "Vee~ Iggy, why are you crying?" In receiving no reply, ever-diplomatic Kiku Honda, let out a polite cough, signaling that the meeting was adjourned. It was pointless to continue anyway, there wasn't a shred of sanity in any of it. Trying to be as quiet as possible, everyone had pushed back their chairs, and were making their way to the doors. A loud crash cut through the silence, a chair was turned on its side, having been upset by a particular young, sailor hat wearing, slightly annoying principality. The loud noise seemed to break Arthur out of his reverie. Seemingly noticing Francis hand for the first time, he swatted it away, and letting out the expected string of English curses, "You bloody wanker, get your frog paws off of me!" Pushing his own chair over, he stormed through the doors, leaving a stunned, and confused league of nations to chatter over the recent events.

"Vee~?" Inquired an innocent Feliciano. Felicianos twin brother, Lovino, said the next comment, contrasting his own in so many ways. "Ahh that moody crap-eating bastardo probably PMSing or something..."

"Lovi~, dont say that!"

"Why? Its true!.. And don't call me that!"

"Would you two please shut up!" Ludwig asked not so politely, whacking Lovi upside on the head.

"Potato bastardo!"

"What was that? Sorry, couldn-" Ludwigs sarcastic comeback was stopped short due to the piercing scream that could be heard from the hall.

**Sorry~ ducks random objects being thrown at her I hate doing cliff hangers DX, especially bad ones ah well AAND I KNOW I STOLE AL'S LAST LINE FROM FFVII:CC (I'm not original.. deal with it XD) Please send reviews! Constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome! Flames will be used to bake cookies for yours truly. I may do a prequel too about Alfred during the great depression depending on feedback n such... *Thinks wistfully*Tell me this, do you think I REALLY need to introduce everyone? It's kind of annoying =_= ah well I felt like this was kinda passive idk why sigh PLEASE REVIEWWWWWWW! ~Danke**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hallo, again readers! Looking back on the first chapter I realized how much I effed that up =_=…. Ah well It should have been longer and less cliffhanger-ey… So just to be clear… America, the country, is still alive and well, its just Alfred that's dead as a doornail. (I don't really know if that's possible, but heck, in my story it is ^^) And as for Ludwig… I'm gonna make him a bit soft and squishy, and he will be feeling some guilt pains… XD I love having the power of words *sigh* Thank you to NONAMESWEREAVAILABLE, MelodyOfStarshine, and Reigel Jane for reviewing! I appreciate it soo much! And another thanks to those of you who added me to their story alert! You make me feel grrrreat! (I had to say it…I had to XDDD) ^^ And, I also think this may get fluffy… maybe a bit more than "No yaoi" (stop smiling, you... yes, you, the GerUK fangirl in the back) it'll be much easier to write that way. BTW- I hate writing this kind of stuff, I feel bad hurting Artie! Alfred, on the other hand, was kind of easy to kill off heheh…**

**Anyways… on with the disclaimer!**

***Pulls Iggy into View* Disclaimer please?**

**Ig: *sigh* Pop-Goes-the-Prussia does not own Hetalia…**

**Pop: If I did, I'd make your food suck even more than it already does! Just for the fun of it… :D**

**Ig: Hey, what the bloody hell's that supposed to mean?**

**Pop: Kesesesesese… ;3**

**Ig: Pr-Prussia? DX**

**WARNINGS!: Non-sexual Mature themes, Historical inaccuracy, Bad grammar (Please, I'm only in 8****th**** grade and I have yet to take a proper writing course DX I try, I really do PITY ME NOW! o3o), Angstyness… Really mild yaoiness… Pairings: FrUK (onesided, if you squint, er, if you just open your eyes really...), "the relationship" between Luddy and Artie can be taken either way… past USUK?**

Bursting through the heavy wooden doors of the conference room, Arthur made a sharp left, preparing to ascend a flight of stairs. As he was going to make his way up the men's lavatories, a sudden sharp pain caught him off guard and caused him to squeak. Another wave of pain came, and caused him to let out a hiss of and clutch the fabric of his shirt, right over hid heart. _Was that…L-London? What the… bloody hell's happening? _The pain grew as he tried to climb up the stairs, but before his foot could touch the last stair, a white-hot pain tore through him, causing him to let out a blood-curdling scream. He only vaguely heard the footsteps and accented voices approaching him as he gladly escaped the pain and letting himself be engulfed in a blanket of darkness.

"Dad…?" whispered Matthew as he took his adoptive father's hand in his. He yelped and let go of it, it was scalding to the touch. Seeing this, Francis took off his jacket and wrapped it around the unconscious man, creating a temporary barrier from the heat that was emanating from the small bleeding man that he now held in him arms. He whisked him off to a lavishly decorated suite on the 4th floor, Mattie at his heels. As Francis punctually shut the door, receiving dumfounded looks from the other countries.

After settling Arthur in the large bed, and asking Matthew to fetch a bowl of cold water, and a compress, Francis opened Arthur's jacket and shirt, and awaited the materials. He turned and faced the remaining countries. Only Ludwig, Feliciano, and Gilbert had stayed. The two Germans (though Gilbert would've argued that he was still strictly "Prussian"…) had stayed in support of (Well, more like dragged by) Feliciano, who was crying into a pillow, wailing as If Arthur was already dead.

"When did this room get here?" Asked Gilbert , trying to lighten the mood, "This would've been handy in more than more than one situation, _nein?_ Kesesese!" He playfully jabbed an elbow in his younger brother's side, awaiting a response. When none came, he looked at Ludwig's distant blue eyes "_Was ist los, bruder?_" When taller blonde's eyes averted to the opposite wall, Gilbert stepped into his line of vision and was about to inquire further, but he was stopped by Francis who had been listening intently on the conversation between the brothers. "_Oui,_ Ludwig, why so quiet?" he asked as if he was asking a child why they were painting on walls. Once again, pale blue eyes darted in the opposite direction of the cold gazes. A firm, pale hand was placed on his shoulder. "What...are we?" was Ludwig's response. A confused Francis met his gaze, "Whatever do you mean?"

Ludwig looked into the Frenchman's eyes, his expression completely changed from earlier, now his eyes were clouded with confusion "What are we? We get treated like we have some sort of power... We don't! All we are, is victims! I can't even convince a group of people to stop an obviously pointless mission... When was the last time you ever had a say in your government's actions? All we do is feel the mistakes of others, never once have I influenced them!" After he had let out the feelings he had been holding, he sat heavily in an ornate couch, his head resting on steepled hands.

"Them?" Asked Gilbert, after recovering from the unusually emotional outburst.

"Them, the ones running our governments... I'm sure you had no say in your dissolution, ja?

"Well, no... But why would I? I don't have to know about of the political stuff that goes on to be a country." The two would've facepalmed, had it been for the given situation. Ignoring the idiotic statement, Francis stepped in. "What do yo mean by a "pointless mission"? Surely, your country has not done anything to harm Arthur? If I find that that you had anything to do with this-" His voice began to rise as he asked the increasingly harsh questions. Before he could continue barraging Ludwig with even more accusations, Matthew had returned with the needed materials. Francis' eyes narrowed to slits as he turned toward Arthur, and began to dress his wounds, only to find more cuts and burns twisting over the man's chest.

**OTranslations:**

**"Was ist los, bruder?"~ What's wrong, brother?"**

**Ummm, I take it you guys can actually read "Ja"," nein", "oui", etc... **

**O****MFG, I'M REALLY SORRY FOR BEING SO LATE! Please, don't kill me! I was banned for about two weeks, and then I had a severe case of the horrid Writers Block. The gods of writing must hate me... but now I think I have an idea of where this is going (Hint word: "Think".) Artie should wake up in the next chapter, and I'll do my best to make it longer too! ALL SHALL BE EXPLAIN IN GOOD TIME! XD I don't really like where this ended but, whatever. I still don't have a good excuse as to why Feli is there... Oh well, Please review and rate! Flames shall be used to burn the scones that Arthur made me =3=. Although harsh-but-not-mentally-scarring criticism is always welcome! Let's just hope I can pass Finals without any speedbumps, and then the summer is all mine! THANK YOU FOR READING! XD**


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